Brady’s Amendment allows nonprofit organizations to
engage in political speech without penalty. This change in the rules for
nonprofits would apply to the next three national election cycles, 2018, 2020,
and 2022. Using the last three cycles as precedent, the Amendment could unlock
more than $650 million in new nonprofit funding by opening the floodgates of
“dark money.” The nonprofit sector, which rarely looks a gift in the mouth, has
collectively stood up and said, “No, thanks.”

Why don’t
nonprofits want this money? Just as the military knows when certain equipment
isn’t right for the job, the sector knows that Brady’s Amendment will cost more
than it is worth. Specifically, it will undermine nonprofit’s individual
organizational integrity and weaken their collective contribution to
democracy.The effect of the Brady
Amendment will be to turn both secular and religious nonprofit organizations –
the local food pantry, pet shelter, church, temple or mosque – into money
laundering operations for politicians. Congress budgets for unwanted military
equipment to keep local manufacturers happy. Similarly, the Brady Amendment is
an unwanted giveaway to political donors.

History
shows us that democracies fall when there is no independent civil society,
separate from the political realm. One of the nation’s largest trade groups for
nonprofits is even called Independent Sector. This group and others oppose legal
changes that will destroy that independence. Brady’s Amendment carries with it
three threats to the sector.

First, donations to churches and
nonprofits can be made anonymously. Donations made to them for political
purposes will literally launder the donors’ name off of that funding,
regardless of existing disclosure rules on campaign contributions.

Second, the
millions of dollars that might flow will be too great for nonprofits to refuse.
Faced with a donor dangling money for a social media campaign featuring certain
candidates or programs to teach kids about one side of a political issue,
perennially cash-strapped organizations will take the money. Slowly at first,
and then quicker than you can say sell-out, cash flow issues will lead nonprofits
and churches to subjugate their independence to partisan politics.

Third, you’ll
be subsidizing political actions with which you disagree. Charitable donations
are tax deductible. For more than a century, Americans have subsidized
charitable giving because we recognize that a diverse nonprofit sector serves as
counterbalance to the majoritarian nature of government funding. The Brady
Amendment extends the charitable subsidy to political contributions. If it
passes, you will be underwriting political activity by the neighbor you
disagree with, the uncle with whom you never discuss politics, and the big money
political donors whose very names make you cringe.

Two weeks
ago the Senate Judiciary Committee interrogated tech companies for the role
they and foreign governments played in the 2016 presidential election. The
Brady Amendment (section 5201) offers a different threat to democracy, one coming from “inside
the house.” Just as the Pentagon knows the threat of outdated equipment, the
nonprofit sector recognizes the structural threat in Brady’s Amendment. Useless
military equipment risks our country’s defenses. The Brady Amendment undermines
democracy by subjugating civil society to politics.

About me

Why is this blog called Philanthropy 2173?

This is a blog about the future. The year 2173 seems sufficiently far enough in the future to give us some perspective. As sure as we are of ourselves now, talking about the future - and making philanthropic investments - requires that we keep a sense of modesty and humor about what we are doing. Philanthropy is for the long-term - for the year 2173.